If the Broncos don't get Manning, it's pretty much a 2 team race btw KC and SD this year.

I'll still give the slight edge to SD in that case bc they'd still be the only team in the division with a qb worth a damn. KC is clearly more talented than SD in pretty much every way, but when 1 team has a franchise qb and the other has Matt Cassell, it's hard for me to commit to KC in that situation.

If the Broncos don't get Manning, it's pretty much a 2 team race btw KC and SD this year.

I'll still give the slight edge to SD in that case bc they'd still be the only team in the division with a qb worth a damn. KC is clearly more talented than SD in pretty much every way, but when 1 team has a franchise qb and the other has Matt Cassell, it's hard for me to commit to KC in that situation.

Especially with 2 of their best players coming off of ACLs

At least they'll have them. They didnt have them at all last year and they also lost Cassell and Moeaki.

The Chargers didnt get into the playoffs last year and havent improved whereas the Chiefs didnt get into the playoffs but are going to improve a ton next year.

AJ Smith better hope he drafts well. Bc the Chiefs are making some good moves, and if the Broncos get Peyton they're in the mix too.

Oakland is pretty much in full blown rebuilding mode so they're out of the picture for this year.

Full blown rebuilding would have been paring the Seymour and Palmer contracts. Huff too. No, this team still thinks it can compete in the West while they clear out the awfulness of some of these contracts.

If Palmer comes into the season in shape, I could see another 8-8 or a surprise 9-7 season. If he comes in fat again, I expect a mediocre year of 7-9.

I still like the Raiders' playmakers on the outside, especially with DHB coming on so strong last year.

You're entitled to your opinion, but you are talking about a Broncos team that was lucky to an unreal degree last year. They were outscored by 81 points on the year and had squeaked off so many wins. You don't often hit all 7's on the slot machine two years in a row.

On the other hand, the Raiders dealt with horrible luck (as the Chiefs did as well), losing their starting QB, their top 5 RB, 4 of their top WRs missed considerable time, their D line and secondary were ravaged by injuries and they even had to give Rock Cartwright carries at one point.

Carson's weight isn't the problem. His arm is. He doesn't have anything left in the tank.

At this point in his career, he's a backup qb. The Raiders can still compete, but I don't see it happening with Palmer at qb.

You clearly didn't watch much of the Raiders in the 2nd half of the season. Carson Palmer was a good 15 lbs overweight which affected his mobility a great deal. Throwing the ball, Palmer had plenty of zip throughout the year.

He's not an elite QB and he's not borderline either, but I'd rather have him than Matt Cassel or Mark Sanchez.

For 6 or 7 games, he had absolutely no weapons to stretch the field--Moore, Ford, Boss, McFadden and Taiwan Jones were all out and even DHB was injured in that time. Even with that, coming into the season learning a new system and coming in overweight, he put together a line of 172/272 for 2305 with 10 TDs and 10 INTs, good for a 87.0 QB rating in his final 8 games (removing only his first two games coming in cold). Even on the season, his QBR ranks 11th--ahead of Eli, Fitz, Flacco, Newton and Cutler among others.

Palmer's Y/A and Y/Comp both ranked in the top 5 in the league last year--ranking 4th and 2nd respectively.

I hope people sleep on Oakland, if Dennis Allen can turn our defense around in 1 year like he did in Denver I see us possibly winning the division. I'm a Palmer believer, and can't wait for him to prove you guys wrong with a full off season to get ready and a healthy DMC. We have the talent at WR and a solid oline, with an up to date defensive scheme this team has the potential to make some noise...